VA lawmaker brandishing AK-47 on House floor turns out to be crazy ex-con

When I wrote Saturday’s article, “Dem.Virginia lawmaker brandishes AK-47 in House floor stunt,” I suspected state Delegate Joe Morrissey was a little nuts. Today, an article in the Daily Caller erased all doubt.

The article starts with a bang, showing a sampling of Morrissey’s crazy behavior over the years: “A Virginia lawmaker who drew gasps from his colleagues when he brandished a borrowed AK-47 during an anti-gun speech Thursday was found guilty in 2002 of committing a vicious 1999 assault, was sanctioned for legal misconduct while prosecuting a rape case, spent six months in jail for contempt of a federal court, and saw his law license revoked in 2003.”

Morrissey, a Democrat who clearly has no clue how to safely handle weapons, assured his House colleagues the gun was unloaded as he pointed the weapon toward the ceiling, but Republican Delegate Todd Gilbert called for a point of order, asking Morrissey to take his finger off the trigger. Gun safety 101: fail.

The Daily Caller dug down deeper in Morrissey’s past. During the 1999 assault, the Caller revealed, the victim’s defense lawyer filed a legal brief stating, “Morrissey shouted, ‘I’m going to kill you. I’m going to beat your head in,’” then beat the victim and “smash[ed] his head into the corner of a brick wall.”

FBI statistics show that in 2011, more than double the amount of people killed with rifles were killed by — wait for it — “personal weapons” like hands and feet.

Moving on with the shocking list of insane problems, the Caller article said Morrissey’s law license was suspended for six months for allowing a rapist to plea to a misdemeanor in a case Morrissey was prosecuting after the perpetrator’s father “paid $50,000 — half to the victim and the other half to charities Morrissey chose.” The victim testified that Morrissey hid those details from her.

During the same year, Morrissey screwed up in a felony drunk-driving case. “Without asking the court’s permission, Morrissey issued a new arrest warrant with a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless driving,” the Caller story said. “He was required to write a formal letter of apology to the judge.”

Morrissey was once required to attend “legal ethics training” for representing a criminal he had once prosecuted. He then had a physical altercation with a defense attorney, but no anger management training, I suppose.

And in 1999, this lawmaker served 180 days in prison, 90 days for contempt of court and 90 days for “attempting to circumvent the conditions of probation and lying to [his] probation officer,” the Caller quoted the Virginia State Bar as saying. That’s when, finally, his law license was officially revoked. Really? Not before?

Incredibly, perhaps because no background checks are required to run for office, this nut was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. None of his constituents could possibly be surprised by his idiotic stunt on the House floor Thursday, right?

So, I think Morrissey should replace the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party. What fabulous credentials he has: a criminally corrupt, out-of-control nut, democratic politician, who doesn’t know the first thing about guns. Morrissey for president.

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." And fun! This conservative-minded political junkie, mom of three, dancer and one-time NFL cheerleader holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science. [email protected] Twitter: @JaneenBPR